1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to computer systems and in particular to a computer system and associated electronic database for completing consumer transactions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Each day billions of dollars are spent in retail purchases. Department stores, gas stations, online retailers, and grocery stores are primary recipients of these consumer dollars. Recently, perhaps due to personal convenience, safety, and security, a large number of consumers have transitioned away from (or reduced) their use of cash to conduct retail purchases and have increased their use of credit cards and debit cards. Many of these consumers have and utilize multiple different cards in the various retail environments in which these cards may be utilized. These consumers must often juggle the large number of cards and indiscriminately select one card to utilize. Oftentimes, the consumer's selection of a particular card may be made with the consumer completely unaware of the annual percentage rate (APR), monthly interest rates, reward point accumulation, available credit, credit limit, and/or checking account balance (if using a debit card) associated with the card(s) being utilized. Credit cards vary in the interest rate and available credit. Inadvertently spending over the available credit limit or making major purchases with a high interest rate card may be detrimental to the consumer's credit rating or extremely costly in the near future.
In addition to the increased use of credit and debit cards, discount cards and/or store cards are often offered to attract consumers. When utilizing discount cards, the consumer may receive promotional prices, frequent shopper points, and/or coupons for future purchases. Discount cards, also known as shopping/store cards, are distributed by a range of stores such as cosmetic stores, pet stores, grocery stores, whole food stores, etc. Similar to credit cards, discount cards are often small, plastic cards issued by the retailer, and much like regular credit and debit cards, these discount cards are often utilized with the consumer being unaware of specific characteristics of the card, which may be helpful when determining whether or not to utilize the card to complete a retail transaction.
There are several problems associated with or that may arise from the use of credit, debit, and discount cards. For example, consumers typically carry a large number of their credit, debit, and discount cards with them, which makes for a cumbersome wallet/purse. Carrying multiple cards may increase the possibility that a consumer may utilize the wrong card leading to higher interest rates on purchases or perhaps a fee for going over the credit limit. Additionally, carrying credit cards and discount cards on one's person makes the cards more likely to be lost or stolen, providing an opportunity for person finding or stealing the card to make unauthorized purchases until the loss/theft is discovered and reported by the consumer. Further, once the loss/theft occurs, the consumer is left without a mechanism to make purchases, particularly when the consumer does not have any cash or access to a bank account. Also, carrying multiple cards may increase the chance of losing one of the cards without realizing that the card has been lost or misplaced. Again, when a card is misplaced or lost without the knowledge of the consumer, the card may be found and utilized by an unauthorized party.